A Bathroom and a Book — I Finished Both This Week

Great news! Last week I wrestled that consarned to-do list of mine to the ground. Two huge projects finally got done: A bathroom and a book — both finished last week.

(Apparently, one thing that didn’t get done last week is the posting of this post, scheduled for last Saturday. I went to my website yesterday and there it was — not there! Is my website even older and creakier than I declared it to be last month?)

But — back to the book and the bathroom. The truth is, there will be tweaks. And the tweaks might even be on the big side:

In the bathroom, the new faucet is too skimpy — the water just barely makes it into the sink. Something with a longer spout might be in order.

As for the book, it’s kinda long — 100 essays, each one maybe 800 words, which makes for an 80,000-word book. That’s not too many words for a novel or memoir, but for a bunch of essays? Will my readers find 100 essays, back to back too daunting? Will they put the book back on the bookshelf without sampling it?

How about if I make one book into two books, 50 essays each?

Hmm. What I need now (besides a plumber to install a heftier faucet) is a developmental editor who can stand back and take a realistic look at the manuscript.

The book, as many of you know, is a theme memoir, a memoir in essays gleaned from the columns I wrote for the Oakland Tribune when my kids were little and I was juggling marriage, motherhood and career.

The working title — and theme — is “Wanting It All: Dispatches from a Twentieth-Century Mom.”

As for the bathroom. It’s exactly what I envisioned during the months and months I searched all over the Bay Area for tile. I wanted the new tile to echo the house’s original 1950s tile.

Not an easy task. Everyone’s into austere slabs of quartz or marble in subdued whites and beiges these days.

Not for me. I wanted color. I wanted tile that was tile — glazed and set in grout — yes, grout — to show off the squareness of the handmade Pratt and Larsen tile.

Come back tomorrow for my regular weekly post. There will be photos of the new bathroom. And with a little luck, my creaky old website will have the wherewithal to publish it for you.

For posts about remodels past, go to “Yay! Our Garden Remodel Is Done.”  And here’s one on our living room and deck remodel, “Hey, HGTV Fans. Take a Look at Our Remodel. It’s Finally Done.”